Film Noir Influence: The Maltese Falcon

Maltese Falcon

• Starts with establishing shots of San Francisco - similar to the kind of thing Charlie and I want to do in our opening sequence. 
• Loud orchestral music during establishing shots and then switch to more mysterious style noir music - pan of Bogart spinning around on his chair (tension created by music change).
• Close up of Bogart's face - we know he is the protagonist in the story and feel an instant connection towards him (mystery is still created).
• Depth of Field shot - we want to use a wide range of camera techniques in our opening (also adds suspense). 
• Use of shadows on the wall create a sense of mystery - Despite the use of shadows, Charlie and I want to have a darker feel than this opening and so will use more shadows. 
• Slight music change when lady walks in and Bogart stands up - creates tension as we don't know who she is and what has happened. 
• Classic film noir - sets up story before the film has truly begun. We want to produce a similar thing in our film as we are suggesting that it is a 'revenge story' but not revealing why to the audience and therefore adding the modern twist to the classic film noir style. 
• This opening sequence does employ far more 'conversation' than Charlie and I want to include but is nonetheless an important influence, especially when deciding what kind of film we were going to do. 

(this is the trailer, not what I analysed)

MT